Love Hurts
by hts911
Summary: He was only there for a moment, but to them, it could have been a lifetime. A small collection of Renji x Tatsuki oneshots.
1. Love Hurts

**AN: So this is my first fic which will be a small collection of oneshots featuring one of my favorite pairings, Renji and Tatsuki (no idea why I'm so obsessed with them). This first one is inspired, but probably won't match up in theme, by Love Hurts by Incubus which is a great song by the way.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and I don't want to hold that responsibilty, but I do own some spicy Korean Ramen.**

* * *

"So, when are you leaving?" Tatsuki asked him.

In the whole time since he had picked her up from the dojo after her karate club she hadn't said one word to him or even given a glance in his direction. He knew she was always saying that he didn't have to pick her up form anywhere because she wasn't some priss who couldn't take care of herself, but that couldn't have been the reason why she was so quiet. She enjoyed his company. So when she finally broke the silence with that question he was a bit at a loss for words.

It wasn't as if she had asked the question in way that hinted that she just couldn't wait for him to go. In fact it sounded to him as if she _didn't_ want him to leave. He looked down at her to check for any signs of sadness, but there were none that he could see. Deciding it was just a trick his mind was playing because he wanted her to miss him, he shrugged his curiosity off with indifference.

"The day after tomorrow," Renji replied to her question. They were close to her house by this point, which naturally meant that he'd have to see Tatsuki off soon. Her parents didn't like having him over much; they thought he was a convict fresh out of jail or something. He knew her mother was at home by now and was planning on saving her the trauma of having to see them together. He was about to say something about leaving her here when she beat him to it.

"Can we go somewhere?" asked Tatsuki.

The question confused him. Not because he didn't understand the question, but because he was unsure of why she was asking since she never had before.

"And by somewhere, you mean…?" He left the statement open for her completion.

She gave an agitated sigh. "I don't know. I'm starved and my mom doesn't know she can't cook. We can just go get ramen or something. It'll be my treat. Think of it as a going away present."

He thought about it and agreed since he had nothing else to do. "Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I can't refuse." He took her arm, pulling her in the opposite direction of her house. "Since it's a gift, I guess that means I get to pick the place.

That night Tatsuki ate ramen with Renji. They didn't say much during the whole meal and even though she would never admit it, Tatsuki really didn't want Renji to go back to the Soul Society. She sighed looking over at him as he finished his last bowl of ramen. He let out a sound of satisfaction.

"You know what's the worst thing about being in this gigai?" he asked her.

"Let me guess. You now lack the power to prevent me from kicking your ass?" she answered.

He snorted. "You wish, Arisawa. I can take you down any day, gigai provided."

Pushing herself off her seat, she stood tall looking him dead in the eye. "That sound like a challenge Abarai."

He stood up too, bending down to look her more evenly. "Maybe it sounds like one because it is one."

"Then let's go. In the dojo."

"Right now?"

"Heck yeah."

He smirked at her. "Sounds like an easy victory."

"Fine." She high tailed it to the door of the restaurant, then turned back to look at him. "Are you coming or not?"

He grumbled and followed her as she led the way there on instinct. She snuck him in through a window in the back. It was like a secret to her, but she knew it was one that wouldn't be wasted on him.

He barely examined the place before getting in a fighting stance. "Well, show me what you've got, Arisawa." She came at him and they began to spar.

It ended an hour later with Renji on his back on the floor and Tatsuki cross legged sitting on his stomach. He wasn't exactly sure of what had happened to have the match end like this, but he could deal. He didn't mind it that much anyways. She had earned it.

He let her sit on his stomach and admire her glory for a while before he began worrying for the safety of both their egos. In a fluid movement he had slipped one of his arms under the back of her knees and the other onto her back for support and dumped her onto the floor. He then lay down once more.

A few minutes passed and there was no movement from Tatsuki. He looked over to see her lying there, eyes closed chest rising and falling slowly. His face softened as he made sure to get a good look at how different she was when she was relaxed. It was a nice look for her, he decided. She almost looked sort of… pretty.

One of her eyes opened and she looked back at him. "What're you staring at?" she asked softly. He could feel his face heating up at being caught, but didn't look away.

"You," he answered back in the same quiet tone as hers. She smiled slightly and snorted at his remark, making his heart ache. She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

"You're blushing, Renji," she whispered.

He went against his better judgment and inched his hand closer to hers, before taking her hand in his. "I guess I am," he whispered back to her.

He traced her hand with his thumb. It was slightly rough and kind of small. Tough, but still kind of dainty; just not dainty enough to have him mistake her for someone who could be taken advantage of. Her hand fit perfectly and he enjoyed how it felt in his own.

He sighed and closed his eyes attempting to push down the thoughts of how bad this was. He shouldn't be with her right now, enjoying the moment because it wouldn't work out. In two days he was going back to the Soul Society. He didn't want to have to leave her, ever, but they both had roles to play out. He had a home to return to and she had a life to live out.

Opening his eyes he looked over at her now sleeping figure. It made his heart skip a beat and his stomach clench just looking at her. Love hurt and was irritating as hell, but he was sure that with it right now he'd survive.

* * *

**If you want, tell me how I did. If you're just to lazy for that...well I feel you on that.**


	2. A Promise

**AN: Whoo! 2 chapters so far. This one might seem like it'll be a little morbid depressing, but it's fine. In fact, its a little sappy for my tastes, but it does make you wonder about that whole losing your memories when you die thing that happens to souls. Could you ever get them back?  
Diclaimer: Again, I don't own Bleach...or my ramen because I got hungry and ate it.

* * *

**

By the time he had gotten to her it was already too late. Her body's life was fading away every second in that ally in which she was attacked. He had heard her scream, had felt the trouble in the air, but was in a battle with a hollow. He wrapped it up quickly, believing that she could hold her own for just a little bit longer. Apparently he was wrong, so very wrong.

Blood was staining her shirt and was beginning to drip out her mouth by the time he made it there. She took in short raspy breaths attempting to get oxygen into her lungs. He took her hand in his, tracing it over and feeling the weakening pulse.

"Renji," she wheezed out. "Everybody dies."

He nodded slowly, letting the grief inside him onto his outside features. He didn't need to play strong at the moment. She couldn't see him; she could probably barely hear him. So he sat there, knowing she was too far gone to bring back, and held onto her hand that seemed to be losing temperature faster and faster until the moment when she finally died.

For a second he stopped breathing when her pulse stopped going. Then he felt a swift whack to the back of his head and resumed it again. It was Tatsuki behind him, or at least her soul.

"I don't know what you're crying for," she began, as he turned to look back at her. "I'm right here."

He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by her lips on his. It was short lived, toungeless, and Tatsuki obviously didn't have a lot of experience, but he enjoyed it. She was fire, he remembered, she was his fire.

"When did you get so sentimental?" he asked when they broke apart, earning himself another blow to the head.

She scoffed, her eyes slightly watery. "You wish, Abarai. I'm just making sure I have no regrets when I pass onto the next." She gave him a crooked smile and took both his hands into hers. "I'm not scared," she said defiantly. She intertwined her fingers into his. "I'm not scared." She helped pull him up, changing the distance between them.

"I know you aren't," he replied. "You already know where you're going." He kissed her forehead, knowing that she hated that, yet instead of making some brash action she looked away.

"I'm going to forget you, aren't I?" she asked.

He didn't answer; he didn't need to. They both knew it would happen. She would forget and he would be stuck with the memory of them.

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders to shake the question off. "Let's get this show on the road, I guess." Before she could step back, he grabbed her by the shoulders.

"I'll make you remember," he said. "I'll make you remember it all."

She smirked at him, her eyes glinting with mischief. "I'll hold you to it, like a promise. And if you break that promise I will hunt you down and knock you all the way to the location where it was made. Got it?"

He smirked back. "Let's shake on it."


	3. I'll say this once

**AN: Well here goes my third installment of Love Hurts, which is my longest so far which puts me one step closer to being able to write longer stories and chapters and papers for school so I won't be a bum when I'm 40.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach (thank goodness for that)**

* * *

Renji knew that Rukia was the worst person to ask for advice on girls, especially if said girl just happened to be his girlfriend. He figured that despite the fact that she had her girlish moments and was undeniably female, there was some kind of messed up frequency that came with Tatsuki. It was like she was that old radio in the thrift store that could only pick up the right waves 70% of the time and for the other 30%, well you were just stuck there pissed off but too afraid to try to shake for you might get electrocuted.

For instance, he had taken cue from Rukia to bring flowers to her on a date to some fancy restaurant, but when he asked Tatsuki what her favorite type was she kicked him under the table. And when he asked why she kicked him all she said was that it wouldn't be 'classy' of her to punch him in this 'fine establishment'.

Turns out he was supposed to have already known what flowers she liked or at least have been more subtle in asking. Apparently, Rukia had also forgotten to mention that he was supposed to have bought them beforehand. Come two weeks later he discovered that Tatsuki's allergies had been flaring up around the time of their date, which she had complained about plenty of times, and if Renji had cared enough to listen to her woes, he would have disregarded Rukia's advice.

Then there was the time that Rukia told him that he needed to buy Tatsuki something for their '4 month anniversary', because he should be lucky the relationship was lasting that long. So, being the caring boyfriend he is, he bought her a sappy card and a box of chocolate Turtles, which he heard that chicks were really into. At first it seemed as if she were really into, taking the box and beginning to pop one into her mouth. Then she read the card and just had to mention that she hadn't even realized it had been 4 months. From there she proceeded to go on about how the gesture was nice but not to ever do it unless it was for a 'real' anniversary because she wasn't buying him something every four months just because he wanted to be all soft and crap.

So, being aware that the advice he got from Rukia never worked out for him 100%, he decided to try and gather helpful information from other people. The first person he asked was Ichigo, being that he had known her the longest. All he had to do was mention those two stories and was laughed out the apartment before he could even get any advice.

Deciding to ask someone he assumed women liked, he spoke to Uryuu, who went off being all smartass intellectual about it. The man began to speak of candlelit home-made romantic dinners with flowers (which were something he'd never try again). Then after listening to that long speech, he was told by the man in glasses that all the things he'd went into great detail most likely wouldn't fly too well with Tatsuki, but if he tried it with any other girl he'd be a sure in.

After both of those unfortunate encounters, Renji decided that getting advice from any others would just be a waste of his time. All that could come from it would be embarrassment, shattered pride, and, possibly, Tatsuki finding out what he so desperately wanted to tell her from someone else. From that point on, he came to the conclusion that he'd just come up with a plan solo.

2 weeks later, Renji still had no idea what to do. He ran into Ichigo in the grocery store, who was blatantly glaring at some little kid who kept pointing and making crude gestures at him. Not wasting time with any pleasantries, he immediately jumped to the question.

"Did you tell her yet?" he asked, a little too loud for Renji's liking.

Renji looked around to make sure that no one he didn't want was around to hear the conversation. Even with the coast clear, he dropped his voice a few decibels, answering with a sour, "No. I'll do it when the moments right. I still don't have a plan and if she thinks I'm just messing around with her feelings, I'm screwed."

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, there's no telling what she'd do if she thought that. Thing is, you two have been together for such a long time, it's hard to imagine neither of you have said it and got it over with already."

Renji let the words process in his head. "We've never really needed to. I just feel that saying it will make things more official. You know, it'll open up bigger doors for our future together."

He thought Ichigo was going to say something, when a box of macaroni hit the orange haired man in the back followed by a fit of childish laughter. The man cursed, turning from Renji to give the little boy a piece of his mind. Not willing to wait for his friend, Renji headed to check out.

After returning home he began to put away his food when he had an epiphany. He dropped the bread in his hands and set off for Tatsuki's place on foot. When he got to the door he began to knock frantically, refusing to cease until the door was opened by a seriously peeved Tatsuki.

"What the hell?" she snapped.

He stood there frozen for a few moments, completely forgetting the reason he was there. He looked at her mouth about to part to ask him the question again, and grabbed her shoulders, pressing her lips to his forcefully. Before either could get serious about it, he broke it off, to look her dead in the eyes.

"Listen to me and hear me well because I only plan on making this speech once," he said to her. "Tatsuki Arisawa, you are the most beautiful, strong willed, and badass woman that I have ever met. And I must say that I am 100% positive of this fact." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let it out. "I love you," he whispered.

She crossed her arms, looking up at him as if she expected him to go on. The only stare he could return was absolutely clueless. She sighed. "And?" she asked.

He looked at her, confused and uncertain of what she was asking him. "And what?"

"That's it?" she asked equally confused. "You came all the way over here _just_ to tell me that?"

He nodded dumbly in answer, wavering under her annoyed look. She took in a shaky breath before punching him in the shoulder.

"What the hell, Tatsuki?" he asked, clutching his shoulder in pain.

"You are an idiot, Renji," she said slowly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tatsuki let out an irritated sigh and relaxed back into the doorframe. A smirk began to form on her features. "You didn't have to say all of that just to tell me those three words. Besides, I already knew."

"I didn't say it because I felt I had to. I said it because it was true." He scratched the back of his head nervously, feeling a blush heat up on his face at Tatsuki's soft snickers.

"Jeez, Renji, I didn't realize how much of a sentimental pansy you've become," she said, softly stepping closer to him. "But…I guess I have to love you for it."

"What?" he asked, teasingly. "I don't think I heard you all that great."

"Well," Tatsuki began, with a sigh. "Listen to me and hear me well because I only plan on making this speech once." She pulled his face down towards her own, their lips mere centimeters from making contact. "I love you too."

* * *

**Awww! Now wasn't that cute (maybe a tad too cute). In case you were wondering the reason they'd been together for so long and never verbally said they loved each other was because they didn't personally **_**need**_** to. So, yeah, keep a look out for more upcoming stories.**


	4. Around the World

**A.N. : I'm actually rushing for time, but I do hope that you all enjoy this update because I didn't think I'd be able to do it...but I did.  
Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach.**

* * *

It was lonely being the only single person when all your friends had gone and paired off. Well, it wasn't exactly that Tatsuki felt left out of all that lovey dovey affection ate crap, because she preferred to live without the giggling and the blushing and the nicknames. The fact of the matter was that she was having issues finding the right person when everyone else was just able to have them walk right into their lives with no effort at all. There was no way in hell that she was about to start traveling all around the world just to find 'the one', but in her mind she had hit rock bottom: letting her friends 'help' the state of her love life.

The idea was that each of her friends was supposed to choose a person they believed to be compatible for her and set up a blind date. On any normal person with average friends, the idea might have sounded at least the slightest bit plausible. With friends like hers that were known for having 'odd' tastes…well let's just say the future of Tatsuki's love life wasn't very promising.

The first guy was picked by Rukia on the basis of the fact that he was a black belt in karate. With this fact alone Rukia was sure that there was going to be a blossoming relationship between the two. Too bad she was wrong.

Dinner started out nice enough, seeing that they did have something to talk about. The only problem with the topic is that the man became too emerged in it. Anytime something was said to change the topic, he'd miraculously find a way to change it back to his favorite topic. By the time he'd found a way from relating the waiter asking if they'd like more wine to something about karate, Tatsuki had just figured that the date was pretty much over.

The second man came courtesy of Orihime. Really, he was nice enough. Then he decided to get slick wasted which quickly morphed to being completely trashed. At that point he began to become a lot more handsy than Tatsuki would have preferred. So, being the logical person she was, she told him that if he put his hands on her again she'd break them. Let's just saying he didn't heed her warning and the date ended with him in the back of an ambulance with two broken fingers, only able to breathe out of one nostril, and doctors forever questioning his future ability to have children.

The third guy Tatsuki didn't even remember. He was no fun sober and all she knew other than that is that she had woken up in her bed with no traces that she had he even went on the date other than the nice clothes she and make-up she was wearing. She had a massive hangover and when she stumbled out into her living room Ichigo's friend, Renji, was sleeping in her couch. He made coffee, drank a cup, and left before she had even gathered a clear view of what was going on.

The fourth date was a no-show for the fact that he was too busy planning a bank heist. Thankfully she was able to watch a very charming video of his arrest and mug shot on the channel 5 news the next morning.

So there she was sitting on a park bench a week after that video of her last date had circulated around the news. The way she saw it, there was a possibility that something was wring with _her_. Either all the good men in the world were taken or her standards were just too high. Maybe those jerks in school were right and she should have just been a lesbian.

She was in the middle of contemplating her options when some random guy just went and parked himself down next to her. Feeling the frustration rise up inside her because some man just wanted to act like there were no other seats in the whole dang park, she turned to give him a piece of her mind, finding her eyes to be clouded with red. No, not red like the figure of speech, but red as in the gravity deifying spiky red hair owned by the man with the most uncanny ability to appear at her worst moments: Renji Abarai. She was just about to give him a piece of her mind just for being there when he cut her off with a raised hand.

"Look," he said. "I hear you've been on a bunch of bad dates recently."

"Yeah? So what?" she asked, giving him a warning look. She didn't feel like being taunted, nor was she in the mood to be set up for another blind date. The way things were going she had came to the conclusion that she was just going to be single for the rest of her natural born life.

She looked up to see him staring down at her with the most pathetic half pissed half nervous look she had ever seen. He must have asked her something. "Can you repeat that?"

"Would you like to get lunch? With me?" he asked exasperatedly, breaking it up into two separate questions.

She gave him another look that told him not to dare be messing with her. He sent back one that rivaled her own. Smirking to herself, she silently mused that there _was_ something to be liked in him.

"Sure," she said. "I'll go."

3 weeks later she sat down at a small café with her friends, turning down blind dates from both Rukia and Rangiku.

"B-but why?" asked Rangiku, awestruck that her offer had been denied. "He's a doctor!" The two women then exchanged a look.

"You don't think…" began Rukia.

"No. Surely somebody would have known…" answered Rangiku.

"And I doubt Orihime knows."

"Is it possible that she didn't even tell _her_?"

Two pairs of suspicious eyes were locked on Tatsuki. She took that as her cue to leave. "I've got somewhere to be soon," she said, inching off her seat. "I better get going now so I won't be late."

"Renji!" Rukia barked out suddenly, causing Tatsuki to freeze.

"What about him. He doesn't have anything to do with…" Rangiku paused as the solution came to her mind. "I can't believe we didn't think of him."

"No wonder he's been so happy, but such a flake lately," exclaimed Rukia, and Tatsuki could already feel her face heating up. Before she could even make her great escape, she found herself swept up into one of Rangiku's famous bear hugs.

She found herself wide-eyed trapped between two overly excited friends answering questions back and forth about her newfound relationship. Despite the annoyance her friends' eager questions were causing, she thought she did well. And she didn't even have to travel the whole world.


	5. Tomorrow

**AN: So this one was actuall somewhat difficult to write, because I felt as if I was pulling both characters out of their 'element' just with the idea. Lately I've been wanting to put them both in situations that people wouldn't want to have them in because of their personalities, so here's my small attempt at that.  
Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach...yeah lets not get into that and I'll just say what I say in every chapter: I don't own it.**

* * *

He sat there on the bench, watching her walk out of the convenience store across the street. It was 2:43 a.m., which was way too early or way too late for anyone to be doing any grocery shopping. All the working people were sleeping; all the parties had already closed down. So why was she out?

He'd been watching her for a while now and knew these little 'trips' she made weren't for her pleasure. He figured that she must have developed insomnia or something and just had too much time on her hands, but not a lot to do with it.

Her hood was up, head hanging down to hide the distress that he knew clouded her face. He wasn't even six feet away from her when she walked out. He was hiding in plain sight, secretly hoping that she would notice him. Despite the fact that he was very hard to miss, she just walked on by him like she did every day, as if he wasn't even there.

His mind called out at him to say something, _anything_, to her. Opening his mouth, he waited for a smooth line to just spring out, but no words descended. So he watched her walk by, just like he did everyday. And he went unnoticed, just like he did everyday.

She was there again the next day, just as expected. She was there, he was there, and everything went on the same as usual. And this went on the next day, and the next day, and the day after that. It was the norm, whether he liked it or not. Then, one day, the norm was broken.

It was early summer when he sat there at that bench, once again watching her walk out of the convenience store. By now he just expected her to walk by him, as he failed at a nervous attempt to force words out his mouth to talk to her. But this time it was different. Instead of just walking by, she went and took a seat next to him on the bench. His stomach churned. He wasn't prepared for this to happen.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked him, looking directly at the store in front of him.

"What do you mean?" he asked back.

She still didn't look up or even make a motion that acknowledged that she had heard him speaking. The only recognition she gave, was answering back. "Why are you always here?" she questioned. "The bus doesn't run this late and you're outfit isn't shitty enough for you to be homeless."

He felt a slight smile twitching at his face. He didn't allow it to show on his face, but he was pleased that she was completely ignorant of his presence. Despite his slight uplift in mood he chose not to answer her question, unsure of how to without sounding like some sort of stalker. So he simply stared ahead, feeling her eyes burning into his face.

"You watch me," she said. "I'm sure of it." He still chose not to open his mouth. "I've noticed for about two weeks now, but I'm sure it's been going on longer than that." Still he said nothing. "It kind of creeps me out, like you might be a serial killer or something, but you only watch me here. I've gotten slightly used to it, though I don't know what you'd find so interesting about me. You feel sorry for me, don't you?" Her eyes squinted up, apparently assuming that was the on. "Well don't. I'm not crazy and I'm not sad okay."

She looked up at him once more and let out an irritated sigh when he didn't answer. Then she left. He wanted to call out to her, make her come back. He wanted to talk to her, let her know that he wasn't some creep and that he didn't think she was crazy, but rather a little lost. But he couldn't, he didn't, which was alright.

He knew tomorrow he would be there and so would she, just like everyday. And if the time was right, they'd talk. Hopefully, tomorrow wouldn't be just like everyday.

* * *

**Just thought I would let you all know that I unforunately only have one more if these left, because when I said it was a small collection of oneshots, I meant like 5. Luckily I one upped myself and got 6 but I don't want to stress the collection out to much and start writing crap. So keep waiting for the last piece.**


	6. Break

**AN: This is actually my favorite story out of all the other ones in the collection so for that reason, and the fact that it holds this air of finality that I've been looking for. I saved it for last.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gucci and I don't own Gap, so why would you think I own Bleach.**

* * *

"If you don't like it, then really, you should do something about it," Tatsuki said nonchalantly.

It would have been good advice for him to use in most situations, but in the one Renji was in at the moment, the advice was complete crap. His face was on the ground in the park's grass with the self proclaimed 'wise' teenager using his back as a seat. She knew her words wouldn't help him at the moment and to be truthful, her intention was to piss him off. But a win was a win, and seeing that he had decades, possibly _centuries_, more experience than her, wins on her part didn't come as often as she'd like.

Renji squirmed on the ground feeling the pain begin to reach his ribs. "Geroff me, Arisawa," he grunted out, his words muffled by the ground. He never said he couldn't take the pain, which was something that Tatsuki easily caught on to.

She let out a sigh, pushing his head back into the grass with her hand. He was so hard to understand sometimes. Of course, she always knew what he was trying to say, but there were so many mixed signals that he gave off that she had to decode everything. She may have only been talking to him for a few weeks now, but she was an expert on cracking the code that was Renji Abarai.

He did make a good distraction though; he kept her mind off thinking about the things that would make her feel emotions that she didn't want. Unfortunately, being around him could only fix some of the frustration built up in her chest, instead of all of it as she would have liked. Ever since life started getting crazier he was the only one who seemed interested in making the sort of normal contact that she appreciated. She didn't want anyone keeping things from her, handling her like she was fragile, and making her feel as if she was the last person on Earth to find out about things. Obviously, this did happen every once in a while, but lucky for her, he didn't make a habit out of it.

She felt Renji relax underneath her. "It's been a long time since you've talked to any of them, huh?" he asked.

"No it hasn't," Tatsuki retorted. "Even though it is none of your business, I will tell you that I talked to Orihime three days ago. We got coffee and the works." She knew if she could see his face he'd have one of irritation.

"That's bullshit, Tatsuki," he spat out. "We both know that's not really talking."

"So what," she spat back. "All you are is a jackass who can't fix his own problems so he wants to pretend he can fix mine." She brought her hand off his head, punching him in the back. He grunted lowly.

"Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe people care enough about you to actually _want_ to help you, Tatsuki?" he asked his voice low. "No, because the one with the most problems is the girl who's too scared to actually open her mouth then bitches when someone actually cares."

His words didn't sting; she'd heard it enough by now to not even care. If they didn't need her, then she didn't need them either. Without a word she stood, releasing him from under her weight. She had planned on just leaving, but he pulled her down by her arm before she could do so. She fell in his lap, but he didn't seem to care.

"Talk to me," he said softly.

She could feel her face warming up, her eyes fixing themselves in a heated glare. It was what he did, what he was good at, making her feel things that she shouldn't want to feel.

He didn't pry past that, he just sat there, the silence deafening in her ears. She didn't like it; in fact she hated it with a passion that made her sick to her stomach. His breath wouldn't stop hitting her in the back of her neck, waiting for her to say something. And she knew, ready or not, the words would come.

So they sat there for an hour in silence, him watching patiently, and her trying not to succumb to the pressure of speaking but the silence was too loud, way too loud in her ears, and she could feel herself losing control. The first thing she let slip was how she couldn't sleep. The second to go was that she was picking fights. Then about how she knew she was hurting Orihime.

Words flooded past her lips before she could stop them. They suffocated her and elated her at the same time. She felt free and yet she knew she would still be trapped by the ghosts of past. Those words, they wouldn't stop, breaking down all her dams like they were made of paper. And the whole time Renji just sat there and listened. He didn't yell, or shout, or cut her off. Whatever he was thinking, he seemed keen on keeping it to himself. Feeling that she had nothing to lose, she said the last thing on her mind.

"Some days I really wish I could hate you," she said, her voice dry. "But for all the crap you give me, I can't help feeling like I'm bathing in the sun."

She felt his hand weave its way into hers, as she glared at the setting sun before them. He didn't have to kiss her. He didn't have to say anything. He broke her down and now he was stuck with all the pieces.

* * *

**I actually expected to have a negative reaction to ending this, but I actually am quite elated that its finished. It actually went by really fast, which gives me hope to be able to do great on my next few works (which unfortunatly aren't RenTats, seeing as I've expended the creative flow of them for a while). Thanks to anyone who read, reviewed, and all that jazz and keep a look out for what I have up next.**


End file.
